Hello, all! I am dragging on this beautiful Tuesday. I could not go to sleep last night for some reason, so I am super sleepy today! I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend, I know I did. I am also pleased to report that I was pretty healthy this weekend, even though it was really hard. I was able to not eat too much for the most part, and I made sure to load up on fruits and veggies, and not so much on the slaw and desserts. I also exercised almost every day this weekend. I didn't do any exercise, per se, yesterday. However, I did scrub my house for about 4 hours, so I think that counts! :-)

On the negative side: I gained 2 pounds back :-( I know that it's because I was not too careful last week about what I was eating, and I let myself slack off from exercising a few days when I shouldn't have. It took a few days to show up on the scale, though. I have noticed that it normally take 2-3 days for any change, positive or negative, to show in my weight.

On the plus side: I have had a great start to a healthy week today. I ate a banana and a soy chicken patty for breakfast, and it was super filling. I hate being hungry all morning, so I love it when I find a breakfast that keeps me full. For a late morning snack I had a piece of string cheese and a FiberPlus Antioxidants bar. I didn't need this snack until late in the morning, which is good because for the next few weeks I will be eating lunch later than normal. My lunch consisted of albacore tuna in water and cantaloupe. It was really yummy, even though I did drop some tuna on my skirt, so now I will smell like tuna until I get home! I don't know yet what I'll eat for the rest of the day, but I am going to try to keep up the healthy eats!

I got some home grown cucumbers this weekend from my dad and my grandparents-in-law. I LOVE fresh cukes, so I will be snacking on those all week. They are so healthy! I do dip them in just a little ranch, but not too much, and I make sure it's low fat or fat free. I read today that putting salt on cukes makes them sweeter/less bitter so I think I might try that this week. I have never thought of doing that, and I don't think these will be bitter, but I'm going to try it anyway. I don't want to get too much salt though because I don't want to start holding on to water weight. Has anyone else tried that? I'll let you know how it goes...

Speaking of starting the week off healthy, I read an article today about the best time to start a new diet. It said that you are more open to change when there are other changes going on in your life, like moving or starting a new job, so that would also be an ideal time to make changes in how you eat. I think this could be true, but I think it would discourage people from starting a new diet if they are not in a "change" phase in their life. Changes in eating habits and lifestyle can also be made when there are no other changes going on. To me, it would be more stressful to have too many things changing and going on at one time. Changing how you eat and exercise is a big step and something that you have to keep up with, and I would think that it would be hard to continue with it in times of change. To make up your own mind on the subject, you can see this article here.

Stay fit!